The author achieved the highest academic degree after overcoming hunger, homelessness, and hopelessness. He has known failure and success; he has gone from rags and riches and then to rags again, and then... Dr. Koubourlis completed his graduate and post-graduate education in the United States; he was a professor at several major US universities and rapidly rose to tenured full professor. He has spent considerable time in several countries and is fluent in several languages. His exposure to different languages and cultures is reflected in his work.
In addition to his University of Washington dissertation, Dr. Koubourlis produced three books and several articles during his early academic career. With the change in professional orientation, he abandoned academia, devoting his energies to other absorbing activities. While academic publishing was pushed aside, he would never forsake writing; he continued detailed journaling and occasionally sharpened his skills by producing short stories and venturing into writing a novel. However, he never proceeded to publication until now.
Although he has been writing all his life, Sometimes Cruel: Short Stories (2023), and My Ailing Champion: A Memoir (2024), are the author's first non-academic works to see the light of publication. The former is a compilation of short stories, some autobiographical, some not. The latter details the author's battle to get an education against unimaginable odds. The author expresses his deep gratitude for a chance at the American Dream and bemoans the current state of America, his ailing champion. He casts a hopeful note stemming from America's noble character and long-term aspirations, concluding that, far from being perfect, America is nevertheless the best country the world has ever known.
The books are available through Amazon, Ingramand Spark, and most traditional book distribution services.
